MandoPony

MandoPony is the pseudonym of an American brony musician. The name refers to his favored instrument, the mandolin,[1] but he also plays a variety of other instruments including the guitar and the piano.[2] He became a fan of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic around July 2011.[2] His first published MLP cover was Winter Wrap Up, posted on YouTube in October 5, 2011. The MandoPony YouTube channel was created a week later. A collection of pony-themed songs (including some alternates and instrumental versions) was released on Bandcamp on May 18, 2012.

Contents

Style

His pony-related work ranges from acoustic covers, instrumental karaoke pieces and remixes of the show's songs to original music inspired by the show, both vocal and instrumental. MandoPony's output is quite versatile, spanning genres as diverse as dubstep, chiptunes, techno, country, pop, rock, and classical music.

Reception and other activities

He was one of several brony musicians mentioned specifically by the Friendship is Magic's primary song composer Daniel Ingram during a Skype interview at BroNYcon 2012.[3] He has also collaborated with Michelle Creber, Apple Bloom's voice actress, on two charity covers.[4] He was a guest host for an Everfree Radio interview with show composer William Anderson, who complimented him on his work. MandoPony also co-wrote the script and music for the fanmade animation Epic Wub Time, as well as being in charge of the storyboard for that animation.

In the summer, he played mandolin for show musician William Anderson on a short cue for an episode of the third season;[5][6][7][8] MandoPony wrote in early November 2012 that "Apparently it's in the season finale this year"[9] and that it "almost didn't happen" as it was "extremely lucky" that their schedules coincided for it;[10] however, Anderson ended up not having any role in the episode at all, as Daniel Ingram and Steffan Andrews received the only music credit. MandoPony later confirmed that his mandolin part was cut along with William Anderson's work when the music production shifted entirely to Ingram and Andrews.[11]

In March 2013, MandoPony recorded vocals for a song for an episode of Littlest Pet Shop titled "Miss Anna T, If You Please".[12]

In May 2014, MandoPony deleted and reuploaded most of his pony music on YouTube.[13]

On November 13, 2014, it was announced that Mando was engaged to MLP storyboard artist (and creator of Wild Fire) Sabrina Alberghetti.[14] They married on July 29, 2015.[15]

In November 17, 2011, MandoPony posted the "demo" of a new song on his YouTube channel. It is purely vocal and acoustic and was reportedly created within a day, as a reaction to encountering "MLP haters" on the internet.[2] A more fully orchestrated version was released two months later, with MandoBrony's vocals accompanied by the British duo AcousticBrony. The song served as a precedent for latter collaborations between the two groups and a new channel, AcoustiMandoBrony, was made to facilitate this.

The lyrics concern two people, one male, one female, who are ridiculed and put down for attempting to counter the cynicism prevalent in "this world of ours". The refrain states twice that "we're a long way from Equestria" before the speaker defiantly proclaims that he or she won't give up and will try to make the world better and "more like Equestria".

This song would later be recorded as top 20th song on Everfree Network's Top 100 Brony Track Countdown 2012. [16]